A Spanish court on Monday dismissed the case against Basque Regional Prime Minister Juan José Ibarretxe . He and the two leaders of the Basque socialist party were charged with illegally communicating with the banned Batasuna party, the political wing of the militant ETA in a failed attempt at a ceasefire. The trial, which began [...]
Corruption cases are increasing in Russia and now account for about 1.5 percent of recorded crimes there, First Deputy Prosecutor General Alexander Buksman reported in an interview printed Monday in the newspaper Gazeta . Buksman said one-seventh of corruption cases take place in law enforcement or judicial settings, citing charges last year against 995 police [...]
David Chandler : "Nearly two decades after its establishment, in 1993, the ad hoc International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) plans to close by the beginning of 2012 and is slowly winding down. In the process, the ICTY is transferring the task of pursuing prosecutions arising from the 1992-1995 Bosnian war to the [...]
The Supreme Court of Appeal of South Africa on Monday reinstated charges against political leader Jacob Zuma , overruling the decision of the Pietermaritzburg High Court. The court found that the lower court judge had overstepped his authority when he dismissed the 16 counts of corruption, fraud, money-laundering, and racketeering against Zuma in September 2008. [...]
Final arguments began Monday in the trial of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori for alleged human rights abuses during his 1990-2000 rule. The prosecution contends that between 1991 and 1992, Fujimori was aware of and approved the so-called "Dirty War" carried out against the Shining Path . The defense maintains that although Fujimori regrets his [...]
US President-elect Barack Obama said during an interview broadcast Sunday that he has not ruled out prosecuting officials for rights abuses committed under the Bush administration. Asked whether he would appoint a special prosecutor to independently investigate the greatest crimes of the Bush administration, including torture and warrantless wiretapping, Obama said the matter is under [...]
Turkish police on Sunday arrested 12 more people and detained an additional 33 in an investigation of an alleged plot to overthrow the government of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) . The arrests on Sunday follow the detention last week of the former head of the police anti-terror unit and three retired generals, [...]
Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nakasone pledged an additional $21 million in aid for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) on Sunday during a visit to the country. This pledge doubles the amount of aid provided by Japan to the tribunal. In spite of the pledge, the ECCC still faces a budgetary shortfall [...]
JURIST Guest Columnist Amos Guiora of the University of Utah College of Law says that while self-defense (in the classic model) is the legal basis for Israel's "Operation Cast Lead" against Hamas, the Israel Defense Forces' re-articulation of proportionality and collateral damage in that context is a new development in international law that carries significant [...]
Cambodian judges in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) Friday denied corruption allegations made against them after a court in Phnom Penh agreed to hear a case against two of the judges alleged to have offered a portion of their salaries to the government as kickbacks in exchange for receiving their appointment [...]